Autism, Asperger's and Atheism

Information

It's a language barrier and social barrier that's rough enough to work through without the added ick of religious platitudes. Whether you have it, know someone who does, or are just interested in knowing more, all are welcome!

It is the hot buzzword, the disorder du jour, but I dare you to find a news soundbite that even attempts to explain what it really is. At its core it's a language barrier. While science is still struggling to map the mystery that is the human brain, Autism definitely appears to be a sort of hearing-impairment (or profound deafness depending on what end of the scale you're on) in those processes that handle empathic communication, reading-between-the-lines, intonation, body-language, facial expressions, and other communication that takes place outside of, in between, through and around the literal words we speak.

But don't take this to mean we lack empathy or emotion, or can't tell when someone is mad at us. It's that a process which, for the Neurotypical (NT) brain, is subconscious, automatic, instinctive, for us is more of a conscious, active process. The NT child automatically reads Mom's face. The Autistic child, to whatever degree, is having to consciously study, learn and memorize which facial expression means what.

Other elements that go along with this language barrier often include hypersensitivity in one or more of the 5 physical senses (now you know why your Aspie coworker really can't stand the florescent lights or particular source of white noise in the office). Autistics tend to hone in on details of an otherwise larger picture, commonly manifesting into our "specialized interests;" self-taught experts on anything from sports stats to music or film trivia, to planes, trains, or a gem collection. Some are savant-level skilled at their area of interest (and in the workplace this can be a superpower advantage when that singular task needs tons of attention). Many Autistics are high-IQ and are often overly logical and objective in conversation. We are Spock or Data to your Captain Kirk or Picard. We are the kids who got beat up on the playground for trying to intellectualize our way out of a fight at the swing set.

Overall, Autism is a marked difference in how our brains take in and process information. For some, it's profound enough to be a true disability. For Aspies or High Functioning Autistics, the 'disability' is because we're outnumbered by NT coworkers, classmates, family members. But don't mistake social awkwardness for lack of job skill. Because we have a hard time with empathic communication doesn't mean we lack empathy. Just because we have a hard time connecting with people at times doesn't mean we don't want to. We appreciate the party invitation and if we turn it down because we're just not up for the exhaustive chore that is socializing-at-a-party, it's not a poor reflection on you. Really it's not! Some days that exhaustive effort is worth it. Some days, not so much.

And don't mistake our impairment in one way of communicating for a complete lack of ability to communicate. In fact, many an Autistic enters professions like mental health, sociology, anthropology. The fact that human communication is more of a conscious effort for us than the NT can actually end up making us very, very good at reading human behavior. We're just seeing/reading/experiencing it from the opposite side of the auditorium so to speak!

In rooting around the internet for information on autism and asperger's syndrome, I came across several references to something called "Theory of Mind".Calling it a "theory" is a bit of a stretch. …Continue

So I've formed a theory - ok, more like an observation - and just bounced it off a friend; woman who counsels parents of special needs kids and thusly is well versed in issues such as Autism. The…Continue

Let's face it, we're a minority within a minority. We're already members of "America's most distrusted minority" = i.e. atheists, but on top of that, we're also Aspies on the Autism spectrum.My…Continue

My daughters are both on the mild end of the spectrum. The oldest has more problems socially than the youngest. We finally got a diagnois for her when she was three. We tired to get therapy for…Continue

Just finished watching "Temple Grandin." First and foremost Claire Danes TOTALLY needs an award. It's one of those performances where you completely forget who the actor is and just get wrapped up in…Continue

For those who don't know her, Temple Gradin is a woman with autism who grew up in the 50s and became very successful in the cattle business. She went on to write a number of books about autism and…Continue

Simply put, we tend to use more prefrontal cortex to compensate for our lack of instinctive/empathic communication. We tend to be more objective, more logical, more likely to require evidence before…Continue

The only condition I know where people have a difficult time controlling themselves from saying untactful, hurtful things is Tourette's syndrome, which can involve involuntary facial tics and other bodily movements but has absolutely nothing to do with Asperger's or autism.

Sk8eycat - your sister has Aspergers? I have a question for you then. I know someone who is very untactful and says hurtful, sometimes harsh things to others. This person then claims that Aspergers is the reason for this behavior. Is this true? When I told them them were being hurtful they said there was nothing they could do about it because of their condition.

I think my 67-year-old sister has always been an Aspie. NOT "high-functioning," although she has something like an eidetic memory, she had trouble keeping up in school, mostly because of social problems.

The only friends she has had for the past 40+ years are her fellow Jehovah's Witlesses...she was not raised in that cult. We seldom went to church at all when we were kids, but starting when she was in her early 20s, they kept coming around, talked to her, paid attention to her (or pretended to), so she joined them. She is obsessed with the buybull, particularly the Old Testic...Testament, and anything to do with the WW2 Holocaust. She can go on about Hitler for hours whenever she has a chance.

She lives with me, and sometimes I just want to run away. I'm not very empathetic anymore, either.

So, am I allowed to come in here and ask questions and complain/whine when I need to?

i am not quiet sure about the empathy claim, when i am in a conversation i usually am watching and studying the talkies face and body for clues about what the conversation is actually about and how i should respond. i am aware i am doing this and cannot stop. this habit appears to me, that i am not so much appealing to empathy but to body language when in a conversation or watching the news, and/or attending/viewing a lecture. As i have been doing this my whole life it seems as though people believe i am in a daze or not listening to them but i can repeat the entire conversation and past conversations if they so choose, which has affected my life for the worse. besides never having a girlfriend as well as having very few friends, i stick out in social situations which hinders my ability to actually enjoy any type of social situation. This leaves me alone in my apartment quarantining my self off from the general public which makes my life a living hell. the only truly good thing about it seems to be that i have more time to read and study what ever i currently choose to be interested at any given time.

I am wondering is there anyone else going through this same situation?